The 4th US-Japan Binational Seminar on the Biosynthesis of Natural Products will be held on June 6-10, 1994, in Hakone, Japan. It will bring together primarily academic participants and observers from the two countries, mixing senior investigators and promising young scientists. In addition, three leading researchers from Canada will be invited. A significant number of researchers from industry in both countries have also been invited either as "Industrial Associates" or as Observers, to provide an important link between basic science and practical applications in the development of useful new products and processes. The schedule will feature lectures in the morning and evening, with ample time in the afternoon for informal interactions between the participants to stimulate the creative exchange of ideas. The previous Seminars in this series have had a profound impact on the development of research in biosynthesis in the two countries. In the early days this field was dominated by British and Swiss researchers; however, in the last two decades both the US and Japan have developed a strong presence in the field of biosynthetic research, with extensive interaction and collaborations between scientists in these two countries. Most of the current, active generation of biosynthetic researchers in both countries were early participants or observers in these meetings. The broadening interdisciplinary scope of the field of natural product biosynthesis has made these workshop-type symposia increasingly important as a means of bringing together scientists mom different disciplines, particularly bioorganic chemists, enzymologists and molecular biologists. A multitude of critical advances in biosynthesis have been made since the last Seminar in 1987 and new directions are developing, particularly in the arena of translating basic knowledge generated in the field of biosynthesis into technological applications in the generation of new useful molecules and the commercial production of economically important compounds by bioprocesses. Many of these advances will be the subject of lectures and discussion at the 4th US-Japan Binational Seminar. As in the past, the intellectual interactions among the participants from a broad range of disciplinary backgrounds will have a profound influence on the development of the field of natural products biosynthesis and its biotechnological applications. The interactions between senior investigators and the next generation of scientists will also ensure the continued vitality of this field.